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Penn junior Julie Epton contributed nine points, nine rebounds and four assists to help the Quakers over Columbia Saturday night. (Will Burhop/The Daily Pennsylvanian)

Erin Ladley made just one three-pointer for the Penn women's basketball team last weekend. It just so happened that her lone three was a miracle shot that sealed the Quakers' (17-5, 9-0 Ivy League) weekend sweep over Cornell and Columbia, a weekend sweep Penn's program-record win streak to 16. After Columbia (7-15, 5-5 Ivy League) cut the Red and Blue's lead -- which was once as big as 14 -- to single digits with 4:32 left in Saturday's contest, Penn's senior guard took center stage. After a near-steal by Lions' guard Patricia Kern, Penn point guard Tara Twomey recovered the ball near halfcourt and fed it to Ladley. And as the shot clock was expiring, the senior co-captain heaved a desperation shot just inside the mid-court line. Nothing but net. Ladley's basket -- which was the only three she made out of 11 weekend attempts -- ended Columbia's momentum and, for all intents and purposes, gave the Quakers the victory. "As soon as she hit it, I knew we had won the game," Penn guard Jennifer Jones said. The Quakers went up by as much as 17 late in the game before finishing up with a 64-53 victory. In the first half of Saturday night's contest, however, things were not quite as peachy for the Red and Blue. For the first time all season, Penn went into the locker room without a halftime lead. The visiting Lions matched the Quakers' first-half point total of 24 in what was statistically a very even half. However, there was one thing on the scorecard that was a bit off. Senior forward Diana Caramanico, who averages 21.7 points per game, had zero points in the first 20 minutes of play. "I let them [Columbia] get into my head and I let it bother me," Caramanico said. "In the second half, I thought to myself that I wasn't going to let them do it to me again." Eight seconds into the second half, Penn's senior star ended her scoring drought. And just six minutes into the half, she already had nine points. Caramanico finished with a team-high 18 points, second on the night to Columbia guard Megan O'Neill. O'Neill, who made up for her lack of speed and athleticism with aggression and desire, buried 5-of-8 from three-point range to pace the Lions with 19 points. But O'Neill's strong showing would not be enough. And neither was the play of Cornell star guard Do Stevens the night before. Coming into the Palestra fresh off a weekend sweep over Yale and Brown, Stevens and the Big Red (11-11, 5-5) fell victim to the Quakers right from the start. Penn came roaring out of the gate and thoroughly dominated the first half. A 37-19 advantage in rebounding helped the Quakers go into the locker room with a comfortable 31-16 lead. Penn, however, had a bit of trouble sealing the deal, as it allowed the Big Red to claw their way back into the ball game. With 11:31 left, a Jennifer Linker layup capped a 9-0 Cornell run to give the Big Red their first lead of the game, 39-38. A seesaw battle the rest of the way, the Quakers pulled ahead late and made their free throws down the stretch to preserve the 59-54 victory. "We have to learn how to sustain a lead and go for the jugular," Penn coach Kelly Greenberg said following Friday night's win. Penn's second-half breakdown against Cornell was the opposite of its strong second-half performance against Columbia the next night. But in both games, the Quakers found ways to get the job done and the team is now two wins closer to an Ivy title. Penn's wins, coupled with a Harvard loss to Yale on Saturday, put the Quakers three games ahead of the Crimson with just five games remaining. A New England sweep against Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend would clinch Penn's first-ever Ivy League championship. And an Ivy League championship means a trip to the NCAAs. "The Columbia coach said to me, 'Best of luck in the NCAA tournament,'" Greenberg said. "And that was the first time it basically sunk in."

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